A Lack of Colour
by The Chthonic Professor
Summary: Naruto's had a harsh life. An orphan, he's lived most of his life as a member of the White Fang. However, things change. The White Fang is no place to raise a child, but is Beacon really any better?


**_A Lack of Colour_**

 ** _The Chthonic Professor_**

 ** _Summary:_** _Naruto's had a harsh life. An orphan, he's lived most of his life as a member of the White Fang. However, things change. The White Fang is no place to raise a child, but is Beacon really any better?_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _I don't own Naruto or RWBY._

-.-

 ** _Chapter One - Compromise_**

-.-

Naruto Uzumaki couldn't remember the last time he'd ever been this nervous. He's faced racism and poverty head-on, he's gone on life-endangering missions for the sake of his people, and he's managed to raise a child entirely on his own for a couple of weeks. Yet, he's never been more nervous than this.

Then again, he's never really been this close to being separated from his son before.

For as long as he can remember, Naruto has always been alone. He was alone at birth, found on the doorstep of a scummy, run-down orphanage with nothing but a name to identify him. He was alone at the age of five, when the old matron passed away in her sleep and was replaced with a mean old woman who hated faunus. He was alone in the White Fang, forced to grow strong entirely on his own. He was used to being alone at that point.

There was a brief time in his life when he hadn't been alone. That brief year, when his life had been alight with fire, passion and love. She'd waltzed into his life like she was supposed to be there all along.

She was older than him by a couple of years, and absolutely beautiful. She'd had hair like fire; orange and red and yellow, and eyes of glowing amber. She had a smile that could light up a room, and a wit that Naruto couldn't hope to match in a million years. Even now, he still doesn't know what she saw in him that day.

Sometimes he feels like it's his fault, that he was the reason she wasn't here anymore, but he doesn't allow those thoughts to linger. He can't regret their brief love, no matter how it ended. Not when it led to the beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde-haired, whisker-marked child lying swaddled and asleep in his arms.

The world had taken her away from him, but she'd given him one last gift. She'd given him the last of her love. A child. His son. His beautiful baby boy. Back then, she'd been his whole world, his light in the darkness.

Now, that honour was held by Hikari.

Ducking his chin down, he rubs his nose softly against his son's. He's taking a gamble. He knows the stakes, he knows them so well they make his heart pump and his head spin, but he's taking them anyway. He needs to do this. He has to.

There's a storm coming. Naruto knows this, he stayed with the White Fang long enough to figure out Adam's end-game. He stayed long enough to see _that_ woman, the one who'd been manipulating everything from the shadows. He knows there's a storm coming, and he knows he's not strong enough to weather it. Not yet.

Not without the training that Beacon Academy can offer him.

He needs to be stronger, to protect Hikari. He's not strong enough to protect Hikari yet, but training at Beacon Academy could definitely push him towards that strength. There's just one problem.

Naruto is about to walk through that door, to take a test and have an interview with the headmaster himself. He's not ready for it. He'll never _be_ ready for it, because Naruto's going to go in there, and one of three things will happen.

They will allow him to attend Beacon with his newborn son. They will not allow him to attend Beacon. Or, they will take his son away from him, because he's only seventeen years old and raising a child alone, without a steady home or income, and plans on attending a combat-oriented academy with said child in tow.

This could go really well, or really, _really_ badly. He hopes to Oum it goes well.

Naruto looks down at Hikari. He takes in his son's chubby cheeks, each adorned with three identical whisker marks. He takes in his son's flyaway light blond hair, inherited from his father. He takes in his tiny little hands; how they curl around his baby-blue blanket, clutching tight as if it's his only lifeline. Naruto leans down, planting a soft kiss to his son's forehead.

Then he takes a step forward and opens the door.

-.-

Glynda Goodwitch has come to expect a number of different things from those potential students who attended Beacon's personal interviews. Every year, Beacon would spend one day just before the beginning of the school year conducting interviews for potential students. These were never normal potential students, because normal potential students could get into the school through their previous merits, transcribed upon their transcripts. Glynda had come to expect one of three things from potential students throughout the day as she conducted personal interviews alongside Ozpin.

The first thing she'd learned to expect were those potential students who strutted through the door as if they had every right in the world to be here. These were, more often than not, the children of high-ranking officials. These were the kinds of people who were all bark and no bite, expecting to find their way into Beacon through no merit of their own. Nine times out of ten, these types of people didn't even come close to making it into Beacon.

The second thing she'd learned to expect were those students who's actions spoke louder than their words. More often than most might realize, students looking to begin a new chapter in their lives attended Beacon's personal interviews in the hopes of making it into the school. While they would often get children with dreams of grandeur and no skill to back it up, Glynda always found it to be the quiet ones who truly had the makings of future Huntsmen. Why, that Blake Belladonna girl she'd just finished with was a prime example of such a person.

The third thing Glynda had come to expect, was to expect the unexpected. Though it was rare, sometimes Glynda found herself surprised by the words or actions of someone she'd previously deemed incapable, or a lost cause.

Glynda Goodwitch had come to expect a lot of things throughout her years conducting personal interviews for Beacon academy. Yet, for some reason, the next student to walk through that cold metal door was unlike anything she could have been expecting.

After all, it's not every day a potential student shows up to an interview with a baby in their arms.

The boy himself is a little on the short side, Glynda would put him at 5'6, maybe 5'7. He has brilliant blond hair, messy locks jutting up in all directions. It's a little on the long side, tied into a low ponytail just at the nape of his neck. He isn't dressed at all like a huntsman, Glynda realizes. The boy is wearing a tattered leather jacket, a plain orange t-shirt and a pair of torn up, washed-out jeans. His jacket is clearly a size too large on him, and his plain black converse are falling apart at the seams. With a start, Glynda realizes he doesn't just _look_ poor, he probably is.

The boy is turned away from her at first, closing the door softly, with his head down. As he turns, she realizes he's holding something close to his chest with one arm. Then he turns to face them and Glynda has to bite back a gasp, because she's looking at a ghost. Beside her, Glynda can almost feel Ozpin tensing up, and she knows she's not alone in her thoughts. This boy is the spitting image of Minato Namikaze, one of the greatest huntsman to ever live.

There are some differences. The boy's got three whisker marks adorning each cheek, and it takes Glynda a moment to realize he's a faunus. It's a rather rare trait for faunus to have, all things considered. He's also a lot shorter than she remembers Minato ever being, though she supposes he might still have some time to grow. His face is a little bit rounder and eyes not quite as narrow. Glynda assumes these are traits probably passed down from his mother.

There are also a number of similarities. More than any other, it's the boy's eyes that convince Glynda he really is Minato's son. She's taught in a school for a number of years, and has seen her fair share of odd hair and eye colours in her time, but never once has she seen a pair of eyes as startlingly blue as Minato Namikaze's. Yet, here they are, staring her down silently.

She is so shocked by this boy's appearance that she forgets to say anything. It's only when Ozpin coughs lightly that she realizes she's staring at him.

"Well now," Ozpin begins softly, motioning to the chair set at the other end of the table, "Why don't you sit down an introduce yourself."

The boy shuffled nervously, slightly jostling whatever he was holding in his left arm. For a brief moment, Glynda caught a flash of blond hair and whisker-marked cheeks swaddled in baby blue blankets. Her eyes widened and she started so hard her uncomfortable metal chair scraped noisily against the ground.

The boy, who'd been just about to seat himself and had his right hand planted softly atop the only unoccupied chair's backrest, looked up in surprise. Even Ozpin had turned to look at her in surprise, his eyebrows raised, silently questioning her actions. Taking a moment to swallow heavily and compose herself, Glynda pointed at the blue-wrapped bundle in the boy's arms.

"That child…" Glynda trailed off immediately, not quite sure how to phrase the question she was trying to ask. The boy blinked at her, expression blank. Then his eyes - so startlingly blue - softened, and he took a seat.

"I guess I should introduce myself, then," He spoke. His voice was soft, with a slightly mischievous lilt to it, but it held an undertone of strength Glynda hadn't heard from someone so young ever before in her life. There was a small, oddly nostalgic smile on his face. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki," He introduced himself, and then he looked down at the small bundle in his arms, "and this is my son, Hikari Uzumaki."

His gaze shifted from his son, and suddenly Glynda was staring into soul-searching blue eyes. They were incredibly intense, and despite the fact that they were like hard chips of ice, Glynda could clearly see the guarded hope in his eyes.

Ozpin, as composed and unflappable as he ever was, simply went on with the interview as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"So, Mr. Uzumaki," He began, steepling his fingers beneath his chin, "What brings you and your son," Ozpin glanced pointedly at the slumbering child, "to Beacon's halls?"

The boy - Naruto, Glynda reminded herself - took a moment to stare Ozpin down, holding eye contact for a number of seconds. Whatever he was looking for, it only took him a short time to find it, because he suddenly leaned back. There was a sudden relaxed slump to his shoulders, and he was holding his son closer to his chest.

"I wanna attend Beacon. I think that's pretty obvious." Glynda had to refrain from rolling her eyes. "I know I can get in, that's not the problem." Again, Glynda refrained from rolling her eyes. However, instead of her own restraint, it was the look in his eyes that held her back. There was no arrogance, nor false bravado, inane bluster or even fierce determination. Instead there was only a steady confidence in his gaze, as if he was stating nothing more than a well-known fact.

"Honestly," He continued, and Glynda had a hard time trying to figure out how a seventeen year old boy could make a single word sound so _heartfelt_ , "Fighting's really the only thing I've ever been good at, y'know?" He shook his head, sending blond locks flying all about, and bit the inside of his cheek. "That's not the problem. The problem is…" His breath hitched for a moment, but he kept talking, "… the problem is, I'm an orphan, a faunus, and I have nobody left to turn to."

He stroked a thumb absentmindedly along his son's whiskered cheeks, smiling softly. His blue eyes were glistening in the artificial light of the small room, and Glynda thought it was the saddest smile she'd ever seen. Without knowing why, she felt her heart go out to this boy.

"The plan had always been for me to go to Beacon. Becoming a huntsman's always been my dream, and even after Midnight got pregnant, that didn't change. She'd tell me I was already helping her achieve her dream, of having a family, and that she didn't want to take mine away from me." Naruto was on a roll now, and Glynda realized he was pouring his heart out. He was desperate, she realized, desperate for something only she and Ozpin could provide him, and he would do everything in his power to get it.

"We knew it was gonna be hard, but Midnight's all I've ever had, and we knew we could make it work. She would stay home to take care of Hikari while I'd attend Beacon. I'd work some late-night shifts during the week and whenever I could over the weekend to pay for a small apartment, and we'd make it work." Naruto paused, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. He was on the verge of tears.

"Then… then she gave birth to Hikari. She'd always been a little weak. She'd have trouble breathing sometimes and she'd get tired pretty easy. Said it was from an old childhood sickness." Naruto's right hand clenched so tightly his knuckles popped. "She gave birth to Hikari, and then her heart gave out on her."

Silently, two tears, one after the other, dropped down and splashed against Hikari's whiskered cheeks. The babe shifted in his seep, but didn't wake. The next words to come form Naruto's mouth were said in a soft, broken whisper.

"She never even got a chance to see him."

The room went silent. It seemed Naruto had nothing else to say.

Surreptitiously, making sure neither Naruto or Ozpin were looking at her, Glynda turned to the side and reached beneath her glasses, wiping the tears from her eyes. She held back a sniffle.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" Ozpin mumbled lowly, gaining both of their attention. He was sitting with his shoulders hunched, hands still steepled, but resting against his forehead. "This is quite the conundrum you've presented to me." Again, the room was silent for a moment. Ozpin didn't move.

"I'll see what we can do about accommodating such a young child. Term begins one week from today."

Naruto looked up, staring at Ozpin with wide, glistening eyes. Despite the sorrow that still laid heavy like a blanket over the room, there was a brilliant smile on the boy's face.

"Thank you." He whispered softly, still smiling. He stood, gathering his son tightly in his arms, bowed, and then he was gone. Glynda watched as the door closed behind him with a soft _click_. Once more, the room was silent.

"Sad."

Glynda almost jumped, whirling around to face Ozpin, who still hadn't moved.

"It's so sad… Glynda, Minato's boy has faced so much already. He didn't even need to say anything, I could see it in his eyes… his life, it's been nothing but sorrow until now…"

For the second time that day, Glynda found her expectations shattered…

… because unflappable Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy and hunter-extraordinaire, was hiding his face behind his hands and crying his eyes out.

-.-

 ** _AN:_** _I don't really know where this came from. It's an amalgamation of a couple of ideas coming together, but I really have no idea where this sad-ass chapter came from. Either way, I think this is the start of something great. If, y'know, I can keep to an update schedule or something._

 _I'm going to leave this as it is, it's currently 20 minutes passed midnight and I've got an english paper due at 2, today. An english paper I haven't started yet. Wish me luck._

 _The Chthonic Professor_


End file.
